Editorial: Kockums JernverkPublished: 2026-11-06

Okonomiyaki – Japanese cabbage pancakes

Name: Okonomiyaki – Japanese cabbage pancakes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 100 g plain flour; 150 ml dashi or water; 2 eggs; ½ tsp salt; 300 g white cabbage; 3 spring onions; 6 thin slices pork belly or streaky bacon (about 120 g); 1 tbsp neutral oil; 2 tbsp ketchup; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tsp Japanese soy sauce; 1 tsp sugar; 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise; 1 tbsp aonori or a handful of bonito flakes; Pickled ginger

Serves 2 · 30 minutes · Kockumshäll

Thick Japanese pancakes packed with shredded cabbage and pork belly, finished with a sweet-savoury sauce and mayonnaise. The square Kockumshäll fits two large okonomiyaki at once.

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake made mostly of finely shredded cabbage bound with a light batter, topped with thin slices of pork and cooked golden on a hot plate. It is best over a medium heat so the pancake cooks through without burning, with the pork crisping against the steel.

Two thick golden okonomiyaki with brown sauce, mayonnaise zigzags, spring onion and aonori on a square carbon steel Kockumshäll with KOCKUMS letters cut out of the back wall

Ingredients

Serves 2

100 g plain flour
150 ml dashi or water
2 eggs
½ tsp salt
300 g white cabbage
3 spring onions
6 thin slices pork belly or streaky bacon (about 120 g)
1 tbsp neutral oil

Topping

2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
1 tbsp aonori or a handful of bonito flakes
Pickled ginger

Method

Whisk the flour, dashi, eggs and salt into a smooth batter. Shred the cabbage very finely and slice the spring onions, keeping some of the green for garnish.
Fold the cabbage and spring onion into the batter just before cooking.
Heat the Kockumshäll over a medium heat across two burners on the hob, or on the barbecue, for a few minutes and brush with the oil.
Spoon the batter onto the plate as two thick rounds, about 15 cm across and 2 cm high. Lay three slices of pork on each.
Cook for 4–5 minutes until golden underneath. Flip with two spatulas so the pork is against the steel and cook for another 4–5 minutes. Flip back and cook for 2 minutes more so the pancake is cooked through.
Mix the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy and sugar. Brush the sauce over the pancakes, pipe the mayonnaise over in thin zigzags and scatter with aonori, spring onion and pickled ginger.

Why it works

The carbon steel plate holds an even heat across the whole surface, so two large pancakes cook at the same pace. The raised walls make flipping with two spatulas easy, and the pork crisps right against the steel.